Believing
The first time I worked with a truly high-functioning team was in 2010 when I had the good fortune to work alongside Lisa Lineweaver and Viviana Toure at the Boston Plan for Excellence.
Since then, I’ve been a believer – a believer in the power of educator teams to transform schools.
Trial and Error
I would say that I’ve also been fortunate to have been a member of many, many teams that were not high-functioning. Some were downright dysfunctional. And a few of those teams were ones I led.
My failures weren’t due to a lack of effort. (I promise!) And I’d wager that few educational leaders experience failure because they’re unwilling to work hard. Through reflection, I’ve come to the conclusion that I failed because, at the start of my career, my primary method of learning was trial-and-error and my primary instructor was the school of hard knocks. I’m guessing I’m not alone in having had that experience.
Leadership
With each passing year, the demands on school leaders appear to increase both in magnitude and complexity.
Simultaneously, the central importance of school leadership in ensuring that students and families have strong schools to support them is becoming increasingly clear.
And when I use the word “leadership,” I mean “leadership” in the broad sense. While I am thinking of superintendents, principals, and directors, I’m also thinking of the countless leaders in schools without formal positions or titles. While I have now served as a central office and high school administrator, I had numerous opportunities to lead prior to accepting my current role.
In fact, I believe classroom teachers (and students!) are among the most important and potentially impactful leaders in school communities. It is likely that many successful teachers will one day find the mantle of leadership offered to them.
Together
While I was woefully underprepared for my first leadership opportunities, others don’t have to be.
I suppose that’s why I have felt compelled for many years now to do the work of starting this organization and establishing this website. Over the years I’ve gradually acquired tools and skills that have allowed me to lead in ways that I believe are actually shaping schools for the better.
My development occurred largely through the combination of two major influences: one-to-one mentorship and network-based learning. I attribute the access I have had to outstanding mentors to luck – I know not everyone has the opportunity to work with people they would consider role models. However, the small professional networks in which I have participated are ones that I purposefully established, developed, and maintained.
Hope
My hope is that LIFTeducation will help school leaders of all types, levels of experience, and contexts to approach new leadership opportunities more prepared than I was. Because the success of our work with students and families relies so heavily on our preparedness, we cannot leave the quality of our own professional learning to chance.
Through this website, my hopes are:
- to offer a set of curated, practical, and easy-to-use tools to school leaders, and
- to make it much easier for school leaders to connect meaningfully and purposefully with one another.
Engaging with quality tools in the context of community has grown me as a leader in a fashion that is more motivating and more effective than anything else I have experienced in my professional life.
If you choose to walk alongside us at LIFTeducation, I hope that will be your experience as well.